11 major earthquakes in the month of November brings year total to 125: 2016 could register the lowest number of major quakes this century

November
registered 11 major quakes bringing the year total for 2016 to 125 with just
December to go which means, unless this month has a plethora of magnitude 6
+ers, 2016 could have the lowest number of major quakes in the 21st
century.

2012 holds
the lowest total so far this century with 133, with 2001 2nd lowest
with 137.

By far the
largest amount for a 12 month period was of course was 2007 the year of the
Fukushima disaster.

Around 150
major quakes per year is the 21st century average.

I receive many comments on The Big Wobble claiming major quakes are on the rise.Since the year 2000 major quakes have remained quite consistent in numbers.I have broken down all major quakes since the 2000 and put each category onto the same graph, (see above)

Apart from 2007 which recorded 196 major quakes and 2011 which recorded a record 207 major quakes, 81 of these being in the Japan area, the chart is remarkably similar.The biggest quake to rock the earth was a mag 9.1 off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. This was the third largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and is the largest since the 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska earthquake.

In total, 227,898 people were killed or were missing and presumed dead and about 1.7 million people were displaced by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 14 countries in South Asia and East Africa.The only other mag 9.0 earthquake in this time period was the 2011 quake near the east coast of Honshu, Japan.

At least 15,703 people killed, 4,647 missing, 5,314 injured, 130,927 displaced and at least 332,395 buildings, 2,126 roads, 56 bridges and 26 railways destroyed or damaged by the earthquake and tsunami along the entire east coast of Honshu from Chiba to Aomori.The majority of casualties and damage occurred in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima from a Pacific-wide tsunami with a maximum runup height of 37.88 m at Miyako.The total economic loss in Japan was estimated at 309 billion US dollars. Electricity, gas and water supplies, telecommunications and railway service disrupted and several reactors severely damaged at a nuclear power plant near Okuma.Several fires occurred in Chiba and Miyagi. At least 1,800 houses destroyed when a dam failed in Fukushima.The Fukushima nuclear plant is still trying to stop nuclear material leaking into the sea and atmosphere five years after the disaster.